William e



lil W 'WLLAM F. lKlElSEL, JH., OF ALTOONA, PENNSYLVANIA.

STEM-ENGINE.

Specification o f Lettera Patent.

Patented il une 2st, 11H19.

Application filed April 4l, 1916. Serial No. @6,869.

To all whom t mayconoern: l

Be it known that l, WILLIAM l?. Kieser., J r., a citizen of the United States,y and res1 dent ot Altoona, Blair county, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Steam-Engines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in valve construction for steam engines, especially locomotives. The object is similar to that accomplished by the structure de scribed in the patent to Haughton No. 536,622 granted April 2, 1895, but a different and much ysimpler means is used. The invention is illustrated in connection with a piston valve construction although it is olovious that it can be used in other `forms of valves. l

ln the common type of valve actuated through so-me form of reversing gear, if the valve is designed rto give a cut-off at halt1 stroke or -less at full. gear, there are positions at which the engine vmay stopr and steam will not be admitted to the cylinders. Even in engines having three cylinders, there are positions in which the engine may stop, such that the starting efliort will be less than that desired. Hence in engines having cut-oiis at half stroke or less when in full gear, in order to have the proper starting power, it is necessary to provide an auxiliary valve, or some other means, to admit steam into the cylinders at starting. rlhis admission should occur after the main valve has closed the valve port at half stroke,- up to at least three-quarters stroke.

To avoid the necessity of an auxiliary valve, and the additional complication of a separate mechanism for actuating the same, this invention has been made.

' lt consists of the provision of an auxiliary port, opening into the valve steam space and arranged to be closed after the inlain port, so that steam may flow through the same and into the engine cylinder after cut od at the main port and until the piston has traveled any desired part of its stroke, for example Another feature of the invention resides in the size of the auxiliary port. lit may be made so that the cross-sectional area is small relative to that of the main port.

ln the drawings, in which like reference characters indicate like parts in the different views,

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through the valve and showing the top portion of the engine cylinder;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view through a portion of rthe' valve cylinder and showing the arrangement of the auxiliary pont.

rlhe drawings illustrate the invention as applied to a common construction of piston valve. with the usual steam and exhaust connec tions ..(not shown). ln the form shown the steam space 11 is centrally arranged. Hence the valve takes steam. on the inside. The ei;- haust spaces 12, 13, are located at the ends ofthe valve cylinder. 4

At each end the cylinder is provided with liners or 'bushings 14, 15, which are formed with the usual port openings 16 leadingto the main ports 17. `These main ports lead to the ends of the engine sylinder` 18. A piston 19 ot the usual form. in valve construction slides in the bushings lll, 15, being operated by the valve rod 20. This valve rod m-ay be actu-ated .by any of the valve gears commonly used in engine construction.

The invention as applied to a valve construction as described above consists in the provision of an auxiliary port 21 having the port opening Q2 through the valve liner. As shown this auxiliary port is located between the edge of the main port and the admission edge of the valve when the valve is in mid osition. Furthermore, as clearly illustrated 1n Fig.` 2, the port opening 2Q is otsrnall cross-sectional area as compared to. the main port openings 16. This auxiliary port leads rlhe valve cylinder 10 is provided titi titl

thereby providing a connection between the valve and engine cylinders, in addition to that provided by the main port alone.

rlhisv invention has particular utility in engines which 'are designed with a maximum cut-oliI which is rather early, for instance half stroke. ,The valve 19 is illustrated with a large steam lap, which will give an earl),7 cutoff, at the main port. However, after cutod has -occured at the main port, steam will continue to be supplied to the engine cylinder, through the auxiliary port opening 22. The location ot the latter port will determine when cut-oil will occur at this auxiliary port. lt is obvious that it may be located so that steam will be supplied -to the engine cylinder foralmost the entire stroke, and even dii llllli though cut-off at the main port occurred at half stroke. In a locomotive Which is designedto give cutoff say at half stroke or less in full gear, steam may therefore Ibe supplied for the greater part of the stroke,

thereby vgiving a more uniform torque atstarting and avoiding any dead points.

As previously stated, the cross-sectional area of the auxiliary port 22 is small as 'compared to the cross-sectional area of the main port. This is an important feature of the invention. If the engine or locomotive should stop in such a position that the valves in all cylinders cover the main ports, and no steam can enter `the engine cylinder through the main port openings 16, steam can flow through the auxiliary port 21 and act on the enginepiston, thereby starting the engine. As the speed of the engine increases, less and less steam will flow through the auxiliary port. Above some speed, depending on the relative areas of the ports,

the steam passing through the auxiliary port will be a negligible quantity. Thel action of the engine -Ior locomotive at thisliigher speed will'be governed entirely by the cut-off at the edge of the main port openings 16. It will be observed that the port 22 is not only in advance of the admission edges of the main port-openings but is alsoseparated therefrom. Furthermore, ythe dimension of the opening in the direction of the -valve travel is small compared with the dimension in the direction transverse of the valve travel. .Because of this location and shape Yof the .auxiliary port its area may be a minimum to accomplish the desired result of having the engine make its first revolution from rest. Further, because of the small area, the effect of the auxiliary port after .iary port is that at starting or at very slow speeds, say less than a mile per hour, the

eifect of the combination of the main -port and the auxiliary port is to give a long cutoif. At higher speeds, however, say live or more miles per hour, on account of the wire drawing effect of steam through the small auxiliary port, practically no steam Hows through this port, and the valve operates as though there is a main port only, giving an early cut-off.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters-Patent is In a valve construction for steam engines having a valve chamber, a main port connecting the said chamber and the cylinder, and a slidable valve controlling said port; improved means for supplying steam to the engine cylinder after cut-olf at the main port and for automatically decreasing the said supply of steam asthe engine speed increases, consisting of an auxiliary porteopening in advance of the admission edges of the main port-opening and separate therefrom,

Saidauxiliary port-opening being small i'elative to the main port-opening, its dimension in the direction of valve tra-vel being short relative to the dimension in the direction transverse to the valve travel and the mam port being formed with a recess adapted to WILLIAM r. KIESEL, JR. 

